Manuel Okata was born in Cienfuegos, Cuba. He studied visual arts at the Benny Moré Arts Academy and the Cuban University of the Arts in Havana, where he graduated from the Scenic Design program in 2020. Since he was a child, his family was always very connected to the Nikkei community. In 2017, Manuel had the honor of meeting the former prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, which sparked him to take on a more active role in the community. In 2019, he traveled to Japan to study Japanese language and culture through the MEXT program, and had the opportunity to reconnect with several family members.

Manuel became a Discover Nikkei volunteer in 2024. He has lent his illustration and graphic design skills to our site and our social media accounts, including creating an Oshogatsu illustration for our email newsletter and Instagram and revamping our Nikkei Uncovered poetry column logo. We are so grateful for Manuel’s creative contributions to making our site a more vibrant and colorful place, and we’re excited to share more of his work in the coming months!